"Lights out factories"

"Please do not take to the streets with pitchforks and torches. This era is here, and there is no going back. Get used to seeing 'lights out factories'. Soon they will have gone from a novelty to commonplace. And those who have no training for this brave new world? Good question. Time for our leadership to address this issue."      

Shh. Don't tell anybody who hates change, but some of our future is not in the future - it is here. I learned a new term (least wise, it was new to me). "Lights out factories". At first, someone might think that this is a factory who is out of business. Like, "would the last one to leave please turn out the lights". But it is not that way. A "lights out factory" is where a factory produces a quality product - using zero human beings.

Last night (after the football game), I watched a YouTube about a factory making MacBooks. It had recently been brought back from overseas, and now resides in Texas. It makes MacBooks - with the help of zero humans. The factory is 100% automated, and that way, using "clean room" manufacturing is a walk in the park. Why? Humans are dirty and can contaminate. In addition, the tolerances achieved by these AI robotics, can be as little as eight one thousandths of an inch. Okay - I am impressed!

This is using current robotics - not the humanoid robots which will be coming in 2025 and 2026. For making chips, cell phones or other sensitive electronics, which require clean room manufacturing, these human-less factories work very well, thank you. But wait - soon, other factories and warehouses (non-clean room) will jump on board. What does that mean? The age of the robot (loaded with AI) is no longer in the future. It is either right around the corner, or it is right here. 

What are the advantages of using a totally automated factory? No sick days. No vacations. No retirement. 24 x 7 workdays. Almost perfect product. What are the disadvantages? No work, and no pay for people. This is the "great turn" in our economy which has been predicted for years. What to do with people whose skill sets have been such to work in a factory type environment. Now what? Have we been educating and training these people for this coming change? Of course not.

Please do not take to the streets with pitchforks and torches. This era is here, and there is no going back. Get used to seeing "lights out factories". Soon they will have gone from a novelty to commonplace. And those who have no training for this brave new world? Good question. Time for our leadership to address this issue.